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Post by Siren on May 28, 2007 22:18:30 GMT -6
It must be summer, because my hands and tongue are stained with dewberries. Yum! And all this rain has made them huge and plentiful at my mom's house. She tells me the vines were planted by my great granny, so lord knows how old they are. And they've survived my dad mowing them down and burning them. (Reasons, Gams, that men should also be under adult supervision while mowing and burning weeds. Add that to your list. *grin*)
We had to be cautious this weekend at my mom's, because there were tiny baby frogs and toads all around the yard, smaller than my thumbnail. Absolutely adorable! So very sweet. And my mom's chickens found them delicious - eeeeek!
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Post by Gabbin on May 29, 2007 23:12:58 GMT -6
Ew! Baby froggies. How cute. I would love to play with them little ribbits.
I am having a weedzilla spring. And have had quite a bout with the micezillas. They are hard to catch. I don't know how they lick off delicious dates, peanut butter and other high-end food without getting the guillatione. I know, but it is a French word, so I can spell it wrong.
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Post by Phalon on Jun 1, 2007 22:30:33 GMT -6
Not many weedzillas here this spring - I took care of that early with two tons of mulch. I think I still hear a creak in my back that wasn't there before shoveling it all; still about that much more to go - I haven't tackled the ravine gardens yet.
I watched my Molezilla this evening; some of that mulch I spread moved as he tunneled beneath. I yelled at him.
Wishing I had some of those frogs, toads, and chickens of your Mom's here, Siren. It's Bugzilla season, and it looks like it's going to be an exceptional one this year. BP came home from school with quarter-sized welts covering her legs and arms. They've been having story and lunch time in the nature center behind the school this past week, and she has always swelled horribly with the even the teeniest bite.
I noticed the big viburnum next to the porch was covered in icky aphids this morning. Nearly spit out my coffee at the sickening sight of them sucking the juices out of one of my favorite shrubs. Grrrr.
Buzz around here is that it's the summer of the seventeen-year cicada. People are preparing for the onslaught. I can't wait. (eye-roll) Lived through the eleven-year cicadas when they last hit the DC area, (about eleven years ago; they're about due too there, I guess), and was grossed out enough by those....can't imagine what staying in the ground six years longer will do to them. Do they get more hideous with each passing year spent in the dirt? Ick, ick, ick.
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Post by Siren on Jun 2, 2007 17:38:37 GMT -6
"Do they get more hideous with each passing year spent in the dirt?" LOL!
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Post by Phalon on Jun 2, 2007 21:24:08 GMT -6
Kinda like fermenting, Siren. Fermented cicadas; I wonder if there is a recipe? In the time of the eleven year ones, the local newscast each day gave a cicada recipe-of-the-day. I love food, and will try almost anything once, but.....eeeeewwww. Even if it is only once every seventeen years, I will not be getting out the frying pan anytime soon.
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Post by Phalon on Jun 3, 2007 21:21:55 GMT -6
It is green; it's lush. Come sit on the porch with me and enjoy it before the drought sets in, (or the cicadas and Molezilla destroy it).
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Post by Siren on Jun 4, 2007 21:12:29 GMT -6
How lovely, Gams! Is that your house? Y'all have done a great job with it. Thank you for sharing.
My mom tells me that her beets are almost ready to harvest, and that her mustard and lettuce greens are delicious. She thinned her okra, and says she has green tomatoes as big as her fist. She made me SO hungry, describing last night's supper: potato soup, cornbread, bacon, a salad of her fresh greens dressed with bacon fat, and of course, sweet tea. Lordy! My mouth is watering. That is some good Okie eating!
She spotted some grape vines hanging full at the place sis and bro-in-law just bought. Mama thinks they're possum grapes, a wild variety. Says she'll help sis make jelly when the time comes.
She also spotted several baby toads in the garden, and cautioned them to stay there, and not venture outside the fence. The chickens have discovered how delicious little toads are.
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Post by Phalon on Jun 4, 2007 22:17:55 GMT -6
Yes, that's my porch, Siren. Thanks. The roses haven't started blooming yet, and maybe I should take another picture then. They are my favorite, gobs of tiny pale pink clusters called "The Fairy". We got some trial roses at the nursery; roses not patented yet, they are still being tested for hardiness. I entertained the thought of bringing some home, but thought better of it - hybrid tea roses, and I just don't have the patience. Apparently none of the other employees do either; I'll stick them in the children's garden at work, and hope they're able to fend for themselves.
Oooo, and I'm getting hungry just reading the stuff coming out of your Mom's garden, (except the okra....ick). One of the best things about summer, I think, is all the fresh produce! Beets! I love them. I planted seeds this year; the first time in this yard. Hubs says the soil is too sandy for them. He's right - it's like a day at the beach. But we keep adding compost every year, so I keep hoping. They came up well - except the patches that the squirrels dug. They got the buds on the blueberry bushes too; looks like we won't have a single blueberry this year.
They left the grapevine and blackberries alone, so there's still hope....unless the birds get them first. The grapevine is loaded. I forgot the variety - maybe Himrod, I think. Whatever it is, it's a tiny, sweet white grape, perfect for grabbing a handful when you walk by. I think I remember you mentioning "possum grapes" before; they sounded similar to what Hubs called "muscatines", (or something like that), which used to grow wild down south when he was a kid.
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Post by Siren on Jun 6, 2007 22:12:26 GMT -6
Hubs was talking about muscadines, Gams. My mom calls them scuppernongs, too. Here's more info: www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/muscadinegrape.html . And you could even surprise Hubs with muscadine treats from this place: www.muscadine.com/muscadin.htmThe only okra I like, Gams, is fried by my mom. She lightly dredges it in cornmeal, and fries it very crisp, so there's no sliminess. Mmmmmmm, it's so good! A friend likes pickled okra. Yick! The wind is howling tonight - gusts to 40 mph. Thankfully it held off till the NCAA Women's College World Series wrapped up tonight. Wind was there, but not too great a factor. Congratulations to the Arizona Wildcats, who won their umpteenth national championship. Condolences to the Tennessee Lady Vols, who, despite the heroics of their pitcher, Monica Abbott, could not find the hits they needed. I was really pulling for them. And yay for Oklahoma City, which broke attendance records for the tourney this year, despite our beloved OU Sooners being absent.
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Post by Phalon on Jun 9, 2007 0:41:08 GMT -6
Hubs made fried okra for me once, shortly after we moved in together. I told him if he wanted a happily-ever-after to never serve it to me again. He's kept his end of the bargain, and for my part, I've never attempted to make garlic and mushroom stuffed tomatoes after that one tiny little kitchen experiment incident.
It's been a weird weather week here; more like fall than summer. Cool and very windy most days, except Thursday which was hot and very windy. Feels like fall, and beginning to look a lot like Christmas - the cottonwoods are blooming a snowstorm of white fluff flying through the air and piling on the ground in drifts.
Robins are goofy birds sometimes; they build their nests anywhere. At the nursery, a mama robin made her nest in a gallon pot of asters, right on the shelf in retail, right in full view of anyone that walks by. I saw the eggs weeks ago, and she'd fly away and yak from the nearest tree anytime someone came near. We put up a "do not disturb" sign, but that just drew people near, so we took it down. The mother bird got used to the distractions though, and now just looks slightly annoyed at the interruptions to her mom duties. The eggs hatched, the babies grew. Last weekend I broke down and showed them to a family - the kids where so thrilled to see baby birds up close. I sneak a peek everytime I walk by. It is hilarious to see the babies now. They are big balls of fluff, probably as big as my hand - four of them crammed into the pot and spilling over the edges trying to still fit into the nest. I expect there will be sibling squabbles soon as they fight for space in the nest - "Moooom, she's touching me", and "She started it. She took my spot."
I think I've heard that before.
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Post by Siren on Jun 9, 2007 8:54:32 GMT -6
"I told him if he wanted a happily-ever-after to never serve it to me again." LOL! I'm telling you, Gams, that if you had my mom's okra, you would change your mind. The key is frying it crisp enough that all that horrid sliminess is gone. Once you do that, it's delish. Funny thing: I eat my fill of okra as I'm cooking it. I want it hot, fresh from the grease. Once it's on the table, I'm not interested. Same with fried squash (which I am craving so much. Can't wait till Mama harvests some!).
Wrens are goofy, too. They built in my mom's gardening boots one year, also in a box of Miracle Gro, in our outdoor gas grill, in the pipe our clothesline pole, and under the hood of my dad's pickup. And my mom says that when she was a child, they built in the pocket of my grandpa's overalls, which were hanging on the porch to dry. Since my grandpa only had 2 pairs of overalls, and my grandma wouldn't dream of disturbing the bird nest, she and Pap had to make do with one pair of overalls - him wearing the same ones every day, and her washing them - until the eggs hatched and the babies flew away. They're also goofy because of how many nests they'll build in different locations before they make a final decision.
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Post by Phalon on Jun 15, 2007 0:04:23 GMT -6
Funny story about the wren in your grandpa's overalls, Siren. We have what we think is a wren; I'm not sure - a tiny, tiny soft brown bird with a coffee and cream colored underbelly - that's got a nest somewhere in the backyard. Busy, busy bird.
The potted baby robins have left the nest. I missed the big event; they flew the coop sometime this past weekend, and it was one weekend I didn't work because our family participated in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.
I am nearly recuperated. It was fun - a carnival-like atmosphere at times. It was long. My night crew came in shifts, (and brought coffee!!!!), and it had a surreal feel to it - watching people walk all through the night, bad DJ music blaring loudly from the stadium speakers and the track glowing under the lights. Some looked like zombies almost - especially the Drag Queen contestants in the beauty contest at two in the morning - eeewww, they were ugly.
The girls have been out of school exactly one week, and I have not yet heard, "I'm bored; there's nothing to do."
Sometimes - just for a short time, don't ya wish you could say that....and mean it.
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Post by Phalon on Jun 16, 2007 22:09:31 GMT -6
I had the day off today - it is Harbor Fest weekend, our town's summer kick-off, and wanted to take the girls downtown to the festivities. It was a morning to sleep in, and the birds outside squawking about some birdly squabble woke both me and Hubs up at five in the morning. What the heck are birds doing up at 5am; it is still dark outside. Hubs fell back to sleep; I could not.
No matter - I got up and got a good roller-skiing work-out in on the highschool track before the day turned hot.
And it was hot - has been for the last week. Any breeze we've had is hot, dry wind off the lake. It feels arid almost, and the lawn is turning a nice shade of crispy tan.
What is normally a 10-15 minute walk to the marina and beach from the house for me, this weekend turned into a 45 minute grueling trek, (five year olds don’t travel too quickly – short little legs, ya know), dodging tourists clogging every inch of the sidewalks. Festival food, high temperatures, (in the nineties is unbearably hot for this area), rides – spinning, swirling rides, and a temporary-lasting-three weeks tatoo on my bicep that my daughters picked for me, and concerts both Friday night and tonight, have left me pooped. I'm ready for work tomorrow – which will be totally relaxing after this. HA! More relaxing anyway.
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Post by Phalon on Jun 18, 2007 6:01:15 GMT -6
"I'm melting.....I'm melting....melting...
Dang, how do you people in hotter climates stand the heat?
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Post by Phalon on Jun 19, 2007 0:20:41 GMT -6
Shoot, no cooling advice from anyone? You may have my broomstick.
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Post by Scrappy Amazon on Jun 19, 2007 0:52:47 GMT -6
We have magic boxes called air conditioning.
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Post by Phalon on Jun 19, 2007 0:59:48 GMT -6
Pfft. Do they come in mobile units that can be strapped to one's back, and some kind of cool air encasement suit that can be worn while working outside?
Come up with a better answer, Poppet, or I'm keeping the broom.
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Post by Scrappy Amazon on Jun 19, 2007 1:01:43 GMT -6
I have a broom of my own.
But since you asked, yes they do have suits like that...contact NASA.
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Post by Mini Mia on Jun 19, 2007 16:09:09 GMT -6
Phalon. You need some long cloths (such as cheap bath towels or whatnot) that hang to your chest/waist/hips when draped over your neck. Hold the cloth under a faucet and run cold water over it until thoroughly saturated and hang it from your neck.
The factory where I worked didn't have a/c, nor did they have enough fans for every employee, and I did this to keep cool. It works great, until the cloth dries. I raced to the restroom and wet my cloth again and again many times throughout the day and dared anyone to stop me.
Heatstoke = Lawsuit
I'm sooo glad I don't work there anymore.
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Post by Phalon on Jun 20, 2007 0:29:58 GMT -6
Ooooo, wanna race? Warning you - I'm fast; you'll be swept away, and left in the dust-pan.....
Ok - that was bad. Maybe it's my broom-shtick that should come with a warning.
Cool. Really. Get it? Sigh. But LMAO - it reminds me of an idea we've always toyed with at work to get rid of the customers that come in after five o'clock, ignore the fact that the "open" sign is turned off, as are the lights in the store, the chain is across the driveway, (which unfortunately does not prevent cars from pulling into the front parking lot), pull the door a few times before banging on it, and wondering why it's locked as they glance at the sign under their banging fist that states our hours: 9am to 5pm. Sigh, sometimes it is six o'clock before the parking lot is empty. But....
....if we walked down the shrubs aisle suited up in those NASA-type suits, and strapped a pesticide sprayer, (we don't spray), at five, I'm sure the parking lot would clear in a hurry.
Good idea, Joxie. My boss made a bunch of tube-shaped cloth neck-thingies filled with a moisture-retaining polymer - a product used to help keep moisture in the soil, and cut down on watering. Soaked in cold water, they'd stay wet all day. Problem was, she filled them too full, and the gelatin-type slime from the moisture crystals would seep through the cloth and be oh-so-grossly slimy on our necks.
First casualty of the season: one of my co-workers spent the weekend in the hospital being treated for sun-poisoning. We got a bit of relief today - it rained last night and brought the temperatures down; we started off the day cool and cloudy, before it crept into the low eighties. Pleasant weather to work in.
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Post by Mini Mia on Jun 20, 2007 17:41:52 GMT -6
Glad to be of help, Phalon.
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Post by Siren on Jun 21, 2007 21:07:45 GMT -6
Had the best treat of the season, IMO, last weekend: fresh corn from my mom's garden. She boiled some, but also prepared some in the frying pan: cut the kernels off the cob, then fried them in butter, with just a little sugar. It was absolutely divine. She said it was my late grandfather's favorite way to eat fresh corn. The flavor was unbelievable.
A friend of my sis' gave us some fresh green beans from her garden, which my mom cooked with new potatoes. *swoon* My mom's bean crop was ready for harvest last week. She's canned more than 20 pints from just the first picking, and says they're ready to be picked again. Now she's about to can beets (which I know you love, Gams).
Does anyone here can vegetables? I don't know anyone my age who does. I'm afraid it's a dying art, like sewing. My mom made most of our clothes when I was a kid. But, again, I know no one my age who sews, except for my cousin who is a fabulous quilter. Hancock Fabrics, founded in 1957, has filed for bankruptcy, and is closing all its stores here.
One of my favorite memories of childhood was when I'd go to the garden to gather dill for my mom's pickle-making. The dill grew in our garden. And as I was gathering it, I kept an eye out for butterfly cocoons. We'd break off the dill branch that held a cocoon, and put it in a gallon jar to await the butterfly's emergence. Such a thrill, watching it come out. Then, it would slowly fan its wet, shriveled wings to dry them. Amazing, how different they looked when they were dry. Most of the time, a monarch butterfly would hatch. But sometimes it was a black butterfly with little dots of bright blue on the edges of its wings. We'd take the jar outside, and release the butterfly. We did this for years, and it never ceased to enchant us.
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Post by Phalon on Jun 28, 2007 23:56:03 GMT -6
Oooo, I'll have to try cooking corn in a frying pan, Siren! It's sounds wonderful. I just read a bit about corn, actually - some interesting kernels of information.
You might like this book, Siren. It's titled "How to Pick a Peach", by Russ Parsons, (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007), and is about the history, farming, fresh fruit stands and farm markets, and what happens to our fruits and vegetables from farm to table. It's got a lot of humor in it, and the author is a also an award-winning chef, so recipes are included at the end of each chapter which include the fruit or vegetable that was discussed in that chapter. We are having fun with this: I read, and then quiz Hubs whose business it it to know about such things. I've stumped him a few times, (he claims the question about the rare-in-this-country Australian finger limes was unfair). Tomorrow's topic? Lettuce pray the way Romaine Catholics do. (eye-roll) Hey - I gotta get my "corny" veggie puns in somewhere.
Hubs used to can vegetables - beans and tomatoes from our garden. He hasn't in a few years though - there just hasn't been enough to can. Three years of summer drought, and the veggie garden has suffered. It is the last thing to get watered because the least investment is put into it. Though I tend to plant tough, drought tolerant things, it's a struggle to keep all the other garden beds watered. This year is no exception - it hasn't to speak of rained in weeks, (we got a three minute rain the other day - I timed it), and coupled with the heat, and wind, it seems like a dust-bowl.
Not many sweet peas this year, before the weather turned too hot for them. Molezilla and his kin took care of the beans - little sprouts uprooted from them tunneling underneath. The replacement plantings aren't doing very well - too hot and dry. The broccoli looks great though, and we did get our first picking of beets!
Next year, thinking about giving up on the veggies, and just going to the fruit and vegetable markets. I'm going to move the blueberries into the vegetable plot in fall; they are not getting enough sun where they're planted now, and maybe just throw a few seeds in here and there. Definitely beets. And zucchini....and beans....and....
My roses are blooming; they and the daylilies, milkweed, butterfly weed, daisies and a myriad of other things look wonderful right now. Mid-to-late June is when my garden looks best.
We did the caterpillar/cocoon thing too, one year when we were kids. It was a Monarch caterpillar, and we kept it in an aquarium filled with milkweed. Dad made a screened lid so it wouldn't crawl out, and that's where it attached the cocoon. It stayed in it's cocoon all winter, and emerged in spring. It was so cool to watch as a kid, and I still get excited when I find a Monarch caterpillar or cocoon.
I haven't seen many Monarch's this year, but we've got tons of Viceroy butterflies everywhere. So many it's like they're flocking, or something! I wonder if there's ever been a B-movie about butterflies? Vampire butterflies sucking the blood right outta your necktar....
Sigh, it's late.
Took the girls to the beach the other day. It was a perfect afternoon - sunny and warm, with a wind that made for big waves. And the water was warm too! Not the typical, "It's not bad once you get used to it", which in Lake Michigan terms translates to, "Just give it a second; you'll be so numb, you won't feel a thing."
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Post by Phalon on Jul 1, 2007 23:01:02 GMT -6
The last few days here have been quite nice - high seventies and low eighties. It could only get nicer if there'd be some rain - rain at night so the day could be enjoyed, would be perfect. But rarely is anything perfect - I'd gladly take rain during the day.
With the cooler temperatures, (and the nice shade of brown grass), it seemed like an early autumn day. The past weeks of higher-than-usual-for-this-area-temperatures, and lack of rain has really stressed and accelerated things. Goldenrod and asters, which normally flower in late August and September are starting to bloom - and it's only the 1st of July! I saw the lovely white flowers on a sourwood this weekend - an autumn flowering tree. BP picked up a few pretty fall colored leaves today.
A friend of mine has always said, "When the black-eyed Susans are flowering, summer is over." Mine have buds ready to open.
Damn - I'm not ready for the end of summer yet. I've only been swimming in the lake once this season - and I'll be damned if I'm getting in that water in any season other than summer!
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Post by Siren on Jul 3, 2007 21:11:27 GMT -6
We set a record this season - 21 consecutive days with rain. This, after 2 years of drought. It's a weird world we live in. I'm sorry to hear about your lack of rain, Gams. So sad, watching plants try to survive. Last year, my mom lost plants she'd had for decades, despite watering as much as she could.
Autumn leaves and blossoms in July, Gams? Wow. I'm sorry to hear about your lack of rain, Gams. So sad, watching plants try to survive. Last year, my mom lost plants she'd had for decades, despite watering as much as she could.
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Post by Phalon on Jul 5, 2007 6:09:57 GMT -6
Hope everyone had a nice Fourth; those here from foreign lands, hope your day was a great one as well.
We had a wonderful visit with Mom and youngest brother - except that it was cut short. A brief rain here, (only enough to settle the dust), gathered momentum and turned into a storm by the time it reached the other side of the state, where Mom and bro live. My brother got a call yesterday from his friend, who said the storm brought down an oak on top of power lines, which was all hanging precariously over my brother's house. Ironically, my brother had mentioned just that night, that he needed to have a couple of large limbs removed from the oak because they were too close to the house and electrical lines. Mother Nature, it seems, decided to do it for him. No damage to his house, luckily, and the electric company had freed the lines within the five hours it took him to drive home.
They did get to stay for the Fourth of July parade though. I love parades - especially small town parades. These are always made up of the town's police, fire and rescue departments, the water rescue team, local businesses, church youth groups, those shriner guys on tiny motorcycles, and the town beauty queen and her court, followed by a decorated car with "The Parents of Miss Beauty Queen", which is flanked by "The Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Second and Third Cousins Twice Removed of Miss Beauty Queen". The maritime museum had a neat float - a replica of the town's "tall ship", which is a replica of an old, masted sailing vessel; dressed in period costumes, the crew sang old maritime songs. The best though, was a float on which my doctor sat decked out in beauty queen apparel doing the parade wave, (I'm sure Miss Beauty Queen and her twice removed third cousins were shocked). The banners on the float read, "Born on the Fourth of July, Dr. So-and-So turns 40 today. Our Town's Queen of Denial". Only in a small town...
Friends over for a cook-out afterward, and even if Mom and my brother had been able to stay, there would have been way too much food. We had the typical Fourth of July fare: cheeseburgers and hot dogs, potato salad, cole slaw, southwestern style baked beans, (made with Great Northern Beans; there seems to be something wrong there), blueberries and raspberries, corn on the cob, and pie. Lots of left-overs, and at least my lunch is made for work today, as is dinner tonight, and tomorrow, and probably the next day.
Tonight we get in our "ooooo's" and "ahhhhh's" as we watch the fireworks display over the lake.
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Post by Siren on Jul 5, 2007 23:21:02 GMT -6
Sounds like y'all really made the most of the holiday. That dinner sounds fantastic! By "southwestern baked beans", do you mean the chopped onion/yellow mustard kind, as opposed to the New England kind? My mom makes the best cole slaw I've ever had. It's so delicious. Maybe you think it's odd that I'd be so enthusiastic about cole slaw. But if you tasted my mom's recipe, you'd understand. My sisters and I fight over the bowl at the dinner table. Gams, I laughed out loud at your description of the parade when I read about the "Queen of Denial". That's great! My holiday was spent at home for the most part. I had to work part of the day, which kept me from the family get-together, about 80 miles away. They had fried chicken and all the fixins, along with my sis' wonderful jello/cool whip/graham cracker crust pies. She made one with "mixed fruit" flavor jello that was such a success, my youngest niece ate THREE pieces! Lol! I worked at a local 4th of July festival for part of the day. Lots of live music, a carnival, inflatables for the kids to play on, etc. Between musical acts, an artist drew large colored chalk drawings to music, from start to finish in just 10-15 minutes. His "canvas" was a black bed sheet tacked onto a wood frame. Really, it was amazing to watch. You can see some of his work by going to: www.visualmpact.com
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Post by Phalon on Jul 8, 2007 21:35:14 GMT -6
Your Fourth of July Festival sounded fun, Siren, but sorry you missed time spent with your family....and of course, the food. My Southwestern-style baked beans, could just as well be called, "Whatever Phalon Has Hanging Around To Throw In the Pot Baked Beans". Just Great Northern beans, with salsa, (I recently discovered a brand called "Garden Fresh" in the deli section that my brother just told me is made close to where he lives - one of those it-started-in-my-kitchen-and-everyone-raved-about-it-so-I'll-open-a-business companies. They have a lot of different flavors - all of them I've tried very good). What else did I throw in there....hhhmmm....cheddar-jack, hot sauce, lots of chives from the garden because they're the only thing that is flourishing in this drought, and I feel I've got to honor them just for surviving, so I put them in everything. I can't remember what else, but the beans were darned tasty.
We got back today - spent a few days further north camping. Absolutely beautiful. The park was on the dunes, and the back-dune forest. The back-dunes are made up of mostly beeches, hemlocks, and oaks and are impressive not only for their beauty, but because these are some of the most slow-growing and longest-lived native trees in the state, and to see them as large as they were is amazing. The dunes are fragile, and the back-dune forest is Michigan's most endangered eco-system - not only because of erosion problems, but because of the ever-increasing development along the Lake.
We walked, climbed, and rode bikes until our calves were mooing. I did a bit of roller-skiing also. Not much in the woods; the paved trails were short, and my wheels don't work in sand. I found an over-grown two-track though, and skiing on that was wonderful. Milkweed, elderberry, Joe-Pye weed were blooming along the river which the two-track followed, and as I skied early in the morning, I was reminded of camping trips when we were kids. There wasn't a two-track Dad wouldn't take whichever he was driving from his fleet of the many Suburbans he owned down - and though Suburbans are like family-style tanks, there were times we'd end up in some precarious predicaments. We would go out early morning or at dusk to watch deer, or explore old abandoned houses, which was a cheap form of entertainment for us kids. No deer while I was skiing, but the deer flies drove me nuts.
Coming home, and driving into town was almost depressing. It was dry up north, but it's worse here. Sad to see mature trees with their leaves hanging limp and wilting.
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Post by Siren on Jul 11, 2007 22:07:58 GMT -6
What a nice outing, Gams! I wish I could've tagged along.
Oklahoma's environment is quite diverse. We have mountains, plains, a tall grass prairie, mesas, and even desert (called Little Sahara). I've never made it to Little Sahara, but would surely love to. A shame that I haven't explored more of my home state.
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Post by Phalon on Jul 14, 2007 21:43:52 GMT -6
Family vacation pictures. I promise not to bore you all too much with the whole album. These are stairs up to one of the dunes. Not quite as steep as Mt. Baldy here, but there are three levels, so the climb is longer. The dunes are so fragile in this area that each piece of the staircase was airlifted in. The second level.... A view of Lake Michigan from the top level. The walk to the beach along a small tributary. Its looks are deceiving; the water is crystal clear, but sediments from the forest leave a fine layer of debris over the sand at the bottom of the stream. The river lets into the lake, and it is way, way warmer than the lake, (which was too damned cold to get into that weekend). The hot chick walking on the beach is me - hot because it was nearly 100 degrees that day, (thought briefly about jumping in those frigid waters anyway!) The two walking in the water are the girls.
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